Dice Shame - 121 | 'Breaking Point'

Episode Date: February 3, 2022

The party hits an all time low as they confront their worst fears... Comedy, action and a whole lot of shaming come together in Dice Shame, an Actual Play Podcast of Storm King's Thunder by Wizards of the Coast! Join our GM Jo; her partner Harlan, his brother Alex & their best friends Justin and Rob as they tackle the daunting world of Faerun in this legendary adventure module! Dice Shame is a podcast that welcomes its audience to the gaming table. Like the games they play at home, they try not to take themselves too seriously. The show aims to be entertaining, inclusive, and irreverent, while still taking the rules (somewhat) seriously. Join us every Thursday morning for brand new episodes available on all major platforms including; Spotify, iTunes, Google Play and more! If you haven't checked it out yet... what are you waiting for?!? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What the hell was that? And Red spins around. Doran, come over, take a look at this. I want to go home. I don't want to do this. I'll be the first to admit it. Yes, I was scared. I am scared.

Yeah, you can't rip off Obi-One. Got a bad vibe about this. Howdy, die? I do get an ethereal vibe. I never realize that. We know our job. Is this your abode? No, this is the cursed die.

Oh, my... Do any of you think we stand a chance? Against those odds! You had it right the first time. I was the first to die. Welcome back to Dice Shame. This is episode 121, Breaking Point. MVP this week is Tim Danny from Instagram and Twitter for their amazing art.

So far they've done sincerely brilliant pieces for both Red and Jack and were absolutely spinning over them. Looking for something spooky for one of your late-night listens? Check out Wake of Corrosions, an indie-drama set in a nightmare-ridden apocalyptic world. An unknown horror grips the country, forcing most of the remaining population into shelter. Tune into the broadcasts from Bunker A-12 and join Professor Ryan as he endeavors to find answers in the wreckage. You can check them out at wakeofcorrosion.buzzsprout.com. All right, should we do this? Yeah, let's do it.

Hey, remember a few weeks ago when we were talking about bad jokes? And we were talking about how Henry tells jokes before bed or whatever. You all ready for this? He remembered one that I had told him, which was really awesome. Oh, boy. What's his take on? Well, the joke was, which is really funny. I was like, how does Alfred call Batman to dinner?

Dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, Batman, right? And he knows that song. So that was like at least a month ago, I told him that joke. I would say longer. Yeah. That's why he said at least. My favorite part of that was the setup that you said, so I told him a joke and it was really funny. And here it is.

Yeah, it is. And because all the best jokes. It's hilarious. Well, my point is that, but classic Henry didn't understand what was funny about that, right? But he remembered the joke. So last night, at bed, we're like, whose joke? He goes, how does Batman's parents call him for dinner? And we're like, how?

And he goes, Na, nah, Nana, Nana, Batman. I'm like, okay,

that's great. But I don't think you really understood the joke, Ken. The reason it's and then we explained to him and he's just kind of like,

yeah, but daddy, Batman doesn't have parents. They try. That's his correct. But he's the one that said it too. I'm not willing to come

along on this fantasy. It is one line too far. Oh, it was very funny. That's really funny. He's a good kid. I mean, a lot of people

were talking about that joke episode. Were they? Yeah, did we get some people... I think we had some gifts about teeth golems. That's right. People really got into Doran's tooth golem, the tooth fairy golems.

Yeah, like patently disgusting. I don't know if we have more legs on this. Yeah, no we got nothing. That's it. No legs. Well, I was short. Here's the segue. In the middle of the dark woods there is a home. The size of a hunting cottage may be slightly larger,

a comfortable homestead. Detailed carvings in the mantelpiece and above the doors show songbirds hiding in ivy and rearing horses. In the corners of the house, spiders spin webs day after day. The paths of the sun trace bright shapes across the floor year upon year. The roof sags and buckles under the weight of rain and snow after time. Leaves fall and cover the stone walkway. The garden grows up over the trellis,

goes to seed and is taken by thistle. Constellations move in the sky. You stand in the middle of this house, having encountered and destroyed a dozen undead skeletons, and now met with a strange creature, an impression of a being, almost invisible,

except for the barest shift or outline, until you catch a glimpse in a reflection. Can it possibly be? Have I been gone so long? Do we all see this creature? This creature is almost imperceptible unless you catch a glimpse of it in a reflection. And additionally, Krayloth has a better time

finding its outline than anyone. What the hell was that? And red spins around looking for where the whisper came from. What? Something said, I don't even know. I don't think we're quite alone here. The apparitions that we see, saw by the river somehow are connected to this place.

Hmm. Do I see anything? You can take a look around. That's a 13. No, you don't see anything specific, Red. I don't see anything, but those skeletons were here. Are they ghosts or banshees or the undead? They're not ghosts.

I know that much. And Kralath steps towards this broken mirror and peers in closer. Can I get a better look at it? You can get a better look at it. The creature that you see reflected in this mirror appears vaguely humanoid, two arms, two legs, a head, a torso. But its other features are impossible to distinguish. You can't tell age or sex or even race necessarily. But it's standing there in the room with you.

In fact, it's pacing back and forth through the rooms. And as it approaches you, you see that its form is almost featureless, translucent gray. What are you looking at there, Craylon? Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts. You just like fixing his hair? Yes, fixing my hair. His head. His head is bald head.

Yeah. Doren, come over, take a look at this. I've never seen anything like it. take a look at what? And Doran kind of hobbles over and peers into the broken mirror. Mm-hmm. You see this creature slowly walking through the rooms back and forth and you catch just the barest hint of a whisper, the creature saying, where is my light? My sweet daughter and wife, where is Isa? Dorn kind of take a step back. He's not used to seeing apparitions like this as much as

Kralath might be. So Doran almost takes a step back and shies away from looking into the mirror. Oh, they're in the room here with us. That's kind of creepy. I picture Doran taking like a wide berth across

from where he saw this apparition. Yeah, Red walks over and looks in the mirror as well and sort of over his shoulder. What do you want? He sort of calls out to the darkness. Does it seem to respond to us? Can it sense that we're here?

Yeah. After a moment or two, you see in the reflection the creature make its way back into the room. And from looking in the mirror, you can figure out in real life where the thing must be standing. You can just barely sense the outline of a shifting in the dimensions of the room if you look at it in real space. I think Red bends down and takes a piece of broken mirror and sort of like walks around the room looking over his shoulder. Mm-hmm. And it says,

I think I am come from the abyss, from the void. Jack, perhaps this is some sort of extra-planar entity, which is why it's not coming up on my undead radar. Yeah, it's very puzzling. She's speaking common. Mm-hmm. The apparition is speaking common. I do get an ethereal vibe.

Someone trapped on the plane just adjacent to ours. Can I make an archa-check to see if I got any useful book learning that might turn up a detail? You can make an arcane a check. 17. Jack puzzles his mind and racks through all the things he's learned and tries to put them all together in new ways to figure out what this could be. It doesn't seem like this creature is currently on another plane of existence, more that they are just insubstantial on this one. You know, it could be similar to like an elemental kind of vibe. You know, the invisible stalker that jumped out of the bag of holding that you're carrying there, Red?

Right. Look, all that matters is, is it dangerous? Do you mean to do us harm? Red shouts out, almost impatiently. I think Doran's kind of staying there with his hands on his axe while Red says this. the same mindset. I'm sapped of my strength with nothing left but regret. Where is my daughter?

Calliope? Something is wrong. Can you hear us? Do you understand me? Yes. And perhaps I can help. If you help us, we're all very tired. We've had a very long day and we need a place to rest.

Is this your abode? This is my home. Well, perhaps we could do an exchange of sorts. I might have information about your daughter. I believe she is out east towards the river. It runs north, south. There were many apparitions there, just like you. You might find your answers there, but they didn't seem to be doing well.

I hope against hope she is not among them. Why is that? Because that would mean she has endured what I also have. I see. And the creature begins to move toward the door. Can we take refuge here? Yes. As you ask that, Doran's been sort of moving some stuff around,

trying to create a space for us to lay our bed rolls out on the floor. Shoveling bones out of the way. Yeah, and he kind of looks to the three of you and he says, I don't suppose it would be very wise for us to light a fire, I? Pointing at the hearth. There are other ways for us to remain warm. Yeah. Doran's moving things around kind of while you asked that question,

and he's making space for us to put down our bed rolls and he says, and then he looks up to the three of you and he says, oh, hey, there's a basement in here. There's some sort of cellar. I saw it through the floorboards. I'll have pausing in that moment for a minute too, because I imagine for Doran, that just means, okay, here's a place for four bed rolls right together

versus here's you could have a little bit of space to be separate. It's like even the dwarven bed set up in the, I've cleaned a quarter. Yours will be here. Mine's right next to you. And then yours, and then yours. There's a seating order. All in a row.

What do you mean basement? Well, Reds sort of like kind of test the floor a little bit to hear the hollow thud. And maybe almost instinctively he starts walking around thumping to try to find, you know, where the largest part of the basement would be. And presumably then a hatch or a stairwell. Well, here, Doran says any walks towards the sort of the entrance that they came in. then there's holes in the floor there. And he turns, he says, well, look, look down there. Look, come here.

Yeah, and red bends down and sticks his eye through. And can I see a stairwell? The room underneath this house is not as large as the footprint of the house itself. So you only have an impression of a small room, but you see that there is a ladder in the far corner just to the north. Nice. And actually, looking at the hole in the floorboards, Does it look like it's just rotted away?

Or, like, can I do a little bit of investigation as to why there'd be, like, kind of a hole in the floor? Great idea. Oh, well, the roof is caved in, so that'd be a 15. Much of the woodwork here in the home has seen rot and insect damage over years. But there are strange scratches here and there on the floor. Scratches. And I take a look at them, and I sort of. drag my claw along one of them.

Is it, how, is it short, long? Is it like fingernails, weapon? You can roll an investigation check. That would be a 19. They range in length from two to eight inches and seem to congregate in a couple of places where parts of the floorboards have been picked at maybe or damaged. And red sort of stands up quietly. says, I think there might be something of value in the basement.

And he walks over towards where he saw the stairwell. What did you see? Someone's been attacking these floorboards trying to get at whatever is in the basement. Come on, help me with this check. I got a bad vibe here. Yeah, you can't rip off Obi-One. You know, you know, you got a bad vibe about this. I got a bad vibe.

I got a bad vibe. I got a bad, oh my God, I can't even say it. Got a Vaj vibe. don't we all that's what she said I feel like I've been censored the lawyer's got me Jack bends down

to help you get the floorboards up and get down to this ladder so at the rear of the back hall you find a trap door subtly defined by floorboards whose grain runs the wrong way and all along the perimeter of this trap door

you see dozens of scratches much like the ones that you had scene on the floorboards all around the outside of the trap door. Jesus, something wanted to get in here. Hey, yeah. When you look at it, you really see the scratch marks. I never realize that. Come on, give me a hand, Doran, Jack.

And red sort of distinctly leaving Kralov out of it, bends down to grab the metal ring and begins pulling as hard as you can. Kralov is standing at the window, just staring out into the dust. darkness every now and then kind of wistfully looking up at the night sky. Is there any movement outside? Not right now. It's very dark, very still. Red, make a strength check. Happily, my strongest skill. I'm helping him. But Doran, I'm also helping, which gives him disadvantage, so don't worry too much. It balances up. Nine. The door appears to be jammed or locked, so you are unable to open it. Doren. Move, Doran says, and he shoves Red with his.

shoulder let me try and cockily he really really cockley no mind you we're really gonna go for we're probably going to go for a long rest soon aren't we you're lucky yeah i'm gonna use my lucky die is it your last one no no i have one more i have one more he really doesn't want to embarrass himself here oh that's even one worse okay i'm just gonna go for it because okay i've used two luck die there That's all of them. The most important role of the game. Oh, my fucking God. What?

I rolled a three, and then I rolled a two, and then I rolled a one. No. Oh, for shame that dice. Doren tried pulling three times. And he's bent over, so we're really seeing the bum blush, right? Yeah. Oh, yeah. This is the dye.

I was cleaning today, and I found this dye behind my, behind my, desk. Oh, it shouldn't have been found. No, this is the cursed dye. Yes, it's there for a reason. Dye. Hey, Doren, that's actually not the trap door, bud. You're just pulling a piece of the floorboard next to it.

Funny stuff. The door resists your attempts, Doren. Come on, let's do it together. Jack, you take that side. Hold on. We got it, Kralath. It's fine. Hold on.

If they wanted to get in there and they couldn't, perhaps it's trapped. A trap, trap door? That's a double. negative. Jack would love to investigate for like a latch or a mechanism. Yeah, I imagine it's just like, something that was just like, oh, you've opened this book on the bookshelf or something. And begrudgingly read it's like, yeah, fair enough. Jack, do you see anything? How do we like about 18? With your investigation of 18, you see that the scratches that surround the edge of this trap door, again, range from two to eight inches and suggest to you that something was clearly

trying to open the door unsuccessfully. But do I see any, like, there's no sense of hinges or a sense of a weakness in the floorboards or something that we could make use of as thinking beings to try. Well, the floorboards were rotten, right? If you guys were using some kind of tool, it would probably work out. A hundred somewhat episodes and were stumped by a trap door. Just grabbing the, like, little thingy and pulling is not working out for you. Doran gets so frustrated and grabs his ass.

It just starts hacking at the floorboard, going back to where he originally saw through the floor. And he just starts hacking at it. You go to the floor and start hacking at just a random spot in the floor? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Where there was already like a hole and some rotted wood. He just goes and starts... I stuck my head in, so...

Just hacking away at the floor. Great. Jack pulls his pick out of his back that he uses for archaeological stuff and slides it between the crevice, trying to get it underneath the thing so we can get some leverage on it and lever it up a little bit. great you can make a strength check but uh use your intelligence modifier because that's a smart move i'd love to meanwhile dorin is just absolutely fucking up this floor and cutting it to splinters

uh 17 jack you managed to finally pry this door open just as dorin in a rain of splinters falls through the floor has lands on the ground in the cellar. I'm loving this mode of like Jack feeling a little bit proud for like, finally one thing in tonight I'm in control of, I can get through this trap door, levers it open. He's like, Doran, look, I, where did you go? You hear like the chopping and then you hear like some like, I stop chopping and you hear some like really long, heavy creeks. Doran?

And I think Red hops down directly after you, Doran, landing right next. to you and helps you up. Come on, buddy. Good job. You got through. Thanks. Oh, hi there, Jack. Yeah, it looks like you got that door open, eh?

Are you coming, Kralath? We found some ladder. Yeah, and Krayloth walks over. Kralath, as you approach the ladder, you detect a faint smell of putrefaction that accompanies death. Be careful down there. I'm smelling something's off.

Yeah, it smells like, uh, it smells like, uh, Not the best stew I've ever had. When the dust clears in this dark cellar, you're able to see that its floor and walls are roughly lined with stones of assorted sizes. There's some meager furniture, a shelf, a crate, and two corpses sit against the far wall. What do the corpses look like? People, for sure.

there is a larger corpse and a slightly smaller corpse. It appears to be one of them holding the other. If you want, you can go over and become one of the team corpse inspectors. Doran kind of looks around. It's not what we do, Doran. Let them do it. I think there's people that are a little bit more attuned to... We know our job, and he points up to the ceiling that's been broken open.

We did it damn well. That's right. I guess I'll go look around the corners with Doran, like, come on, bud. And we go look around to see if there's anything else down there. Yeah. And maybe opening up things, like drawers and... Do not open Pandora's... Fuck it. Let's open this shit.

He just finds a rock in the side of the wall and starts trying to pry it and off the wall. It grabs the org splitter. It's brown and gritty. Kralath, with a tired wave of his hand, he casts a spell as a shimmer. sounds through the air as he casts detect magic and just blinks a couple times and looks around before stepping in proper. Apart from the belongings of yourself and your companions, you do not detect magic. Hmm. Let's get to work, Jack. After you. Krayloff kneels down closer to the smaller corpse. Who were you? And I'm going to do a, I guess, a medicine check to see how they died.

That sounds great. Howdy die. There we go. There's the next podcast. Howdy die? Welcome to Howdy die, the place where we say hello to all our dies. It's an offshoot of the team corpse inspectors. Howdy die?

18 for medicine. Oh. These appear to be the remains of two human females. One adult and one slightly younger, maybe an adolescent or a young adult. They do not appear to have suffered any mortal injury. You would estimate they've been dead, perhaps five years. Does the bottom of the trap door have scratches as well? The bottom of the trap door appears to have been used as a barricade.

When Jack pried through the top of the trap door, he loosed several boards and nails that had been keeping it closed. I think maybe Red and Doran meander over. they were barricading themselves down here, trying to protect themselves from something. Well, whatever was scratching through the floor, it was probably those skeletons. Does the attack marks coincide with maybe some of the weapons we saw on the skeletons?

You can roll an insight check. Natural 20. Hey! These are the classic finger scrabblings of the unintelligent undead. And Red sort of lets her a heavy sigh And he's like, they died down here

Because they were too scared to fight Maybe they couldn't It's not a judgment, just a fact. Yeah. Could you imagine? Dying in a corner. Starving to death. Waiting for someone to come save you.

I'll tell you, it's a good thing None of those skeletons had an axe like Ork Splitter and he kind of hefts it in his hands. And there's like an awkward moment as Doran's like celebrating this as we're watching two corpses that clearly starved to death trying to save themselves? I could have broken through and killed these women if I wanted to. Well, I mean, it is a good thing.

I mean, I'm just saying it's a good thing that they were able to barricade themselves down here. How long do you think they've been dead, Jack? Everything in the house has been rotten for five years. I think we sort of all winds up, right? as red and I had been rummaging around did we find anything of any interest or importance you find three open empty jars well they had three jars of something here

but Doran smells the empty jars they smell like something maybe long ago had been pickled there's some vinegar trace of vinegar smell. Mm. He takes his finger and runs it along the inside of the jar and... Mm. Bautulism.

Licks it. Hmm. Yeah, something, uh, they had some preserves down here. But, uh, not much, as he puts the one of three jars back on the table. They must have been waiting for whoever was upstairs to come home. And, uh, I suppose they never did. maybe that's uh what the figure upstairs is looking for maybe there's some relation you know but we should probably give these people a proper burial he says looking at crayloth i'm surprised

he didn't say anything about that earlier actually that about burying them yeah yeah well um say you feeling all right crayloth not particularly oh well well I wasn't expecting the sudden vulnerability. I wasn't expecting that, no. Well, it's all right, though. My body is sore, my brain is tired. I need rest, and I need food. Oh, yeah.

You're right, Dora, and we should bury these corpses. Jack, have you had a chance to take a closer look? No, I hadn't. Jack kind of slumps a little in size and goes over to, you know, see if there's any non-obvious deep. details about who they might have been or what their relationship was, sort of pokes around to see if they've got anything. Roll investigation.

26. Holy balls. They are dressed in tattered peasant clothing. They have no obvious distinguishing features, but with your careful eye, you were able to tell that the person who sewed both women's garments was the same person. The stitching is immaculate, neat. tiny rows of stitches, line the hems of both dresses. That's all you learn about these women. It almost breaks Jack's heart to know a little bit more about them, just to be like, stand up to say. And I think he might have almost tears in his eyes to say it. She was a seamstress.

This was the mother, and that was the daughter. She'd made both sets of clothes. Trap down here to die. At least they died together rather than dying alone. I don't know. Jack starts to walk back towards the ladder and climb up and just kind of say it's too much. Come on, Doran. Let's get them out of here.

Yeah. Doran probably kneels down and as gently and respectfully as possible folds the adult bones kind of into a pile and lifts them. And I think as you guys are moving them red hasn't really moved. since seeing them. He's just sort of stayed there looking and he says

But they did die alone Kralath No one came for them No one knew they were here They died alone cowering in a corner Well alone together Red

Just like us We're all alone together Nobody's looking for us You might have a point there Red At the end of the day One of them had to go first, even if they were together. That's right, and red turns almost

angrily to Kralath. That's right. And one of us has to go first, too. And who's that going to be? You? He says almost angrily. You? He points to Jack at the stairs. Dorn, I saw you go toe to toe with a giant

and they overran us. Did any of you see the power of that thing? That fucking thing, that, that that demon and and the thing that came from the ship the thing that we were we was side by side with for weeks it destroyed those giants we it just the giants destroyed us and and we are meant to to what to do anything against that overwhelming power against those odds yeah what's your

point red what's your point anyways where's this really going to get us how the hell are we supposed to do anything in this world. I mean, we've got Hun Lords chasing us. We've got giants breathing down our necks. We've got dragons and we're stuck in the middle here and we've lost half the ruins.

And I'll tell you what? And he drops the bones and he says, I'll tell you what. I'm... I'm fucking scared, okay? And he climbs the ladder and he storms out of the building and he finds himself outside in the cool, dark night.

Kralath saying nothing. steps towards this fallen corpse of bones. And he gently places the smaller corpse over top of the bigger one, the Doren had been carrying, and gradually picks them up. And without looking to red, and in a monotone, he says, you had it right the first time. I was the first to die.

And then he picks up the corpses. And then he carries the corpses to the ladder. hauls him over his shoulder and begins climbing up. Redd sort of stands there in a moment, almost like fuming a little bit, breathing the fire from his lungs, and he looks up towards Jack, who I kind of imagined is still sort of halfway up the ladder. What do you want?

What do you mean? What do I want? I've been thinking a lot about what I want. What I want, I want to go home. I don't want to do this. But you know what I can't do? I go home. Huntlords chase me. down, killed my boyfriend. So I can't do that. I don't, I don't want to, I don't know, man.

I saw those things too. Maybe the truth is, Jack, and Red sort of walks over to you. And sort of an oddly soft look comes over his face, almost a sympathetic one. And he puts a hand on your shoulder and he breathes, almost apologetically. I think the truth is, I'm having a tough time realizing the truth that we're already dead. And I think he sort of hangs his head low, takes a deep breath, and then climbs the ladder. Doran, you're outside. You don't hear any of this. You've found some quiet, some solitary place. I also found a shovel on the way out, and Doran's started to dig two graves out of frustration and a little bit of anger and mostly

fear. Where did you choose for these graves? Are they off in the woods? Are they in the garden? Are they? At the edge of the wood? You know? Not quite into the woods but, well, yeah, I don't need to explain at the edge of the wood. We know what the edge means. Define edge of woods, Alex. What is an edge? Do the woods truly start if it's just a couple of trees or do you need to get really into the trees before? How many wood? How many trees is a wood?

How far can a dog run into the trees? the woods before it's a house in the middle of the woods are you ever even out of the woods right exactly that's a far walk me yeah i'm like 20 kilometers away i'm at the edge of the wood from where the cottages door it arrives in watered with the shovel i'm i'm digging and i'm just digging and digging and trying to you know if you're watching me you'd be saying to yourself what the hell is that guy trying to escape and we are watching you what the hell is that guy trying to escape oh i get it now kreeloth you have these bodies yeah and i step outside and and i see dorin frantically digging at the cold earth and it's as he's going deeper and deeper the

earth is getting harder and firmer and he's hitting more and more stones and i can hear his frustration and and you're seeing like this half half of this dwarf in a hole and you just start seeing like big stones and boulders just being thrown out of this hole in the ground doran what do you want what sorry kreelah sorry sorry yes what we only need one and kralov steps next to the first grave that doran had already dug and he places the two-bond bodies within it and he says perhaps a trite symbolic act but at least they don't have to

spend the rest of their days alone what the fuck are we gonna do it's not like you to swear Doran you know Kralath you really I'm so afraid I'm so afraid that you're gonna die

I'm so afraid that we're gonna I'm afraid I'm gonna do something so catastrophic make a decision again that kills my entire party. Leaving me, standing there alone, holding this goddamn shovel,

throws it into the wood. I'm just trying to stay alive, Crayla. That's all I'm trying to do. I'm just trying to stay alive here. It sounds like your fear is very well-founded, Doran, and your pain and your suffering. It's all very human for lack of a better word.

And you, you... You know, Kralath, I have to say, I... I have to ask, do you even feel anything anymore? Are you afraid? Are you... Angry? Just tell me.

I... I won't say anything if it's a concern of, but I have a feeling that you don't even know. if you feel anything. Kralath sits down next to the edge of this grave and looks up at the night sky. Doren, when I was felled by that black beast, something changed. I thought I didn't have a soul before. Now you're perceptive to see that my emotions have a soul.

been completely muted. I don't even know if they're there anymore. I don't know if they're even possible for me to reattain in the future, but I do know they're gone, which perhaps is a blessing in a way, for I don't have to experience the pain that you and Jack and red so clearly are feeling. But at the same time, if I could trade this empty, dark pit, of nothingness. For the ability to feel pain again, you bet your bottom coin that I would.

You know, Kraloth, you know, I can't believe I'm saying this out loud. That a dwarf feels fear. But I do feel fear. And maybe that's a good thing. Maybe it's what's going to keep me going. And damn it, maybe we'll find you a soul after all. Let's finish this burial and go and find the other two.

We've got to pull this party back together. Back inside, Red, Jack, what have you been up to? Jack took a long, last look at this dark basement and climbs up the stairs and goes to find his pack and sits down in front of the hearth and then just does nothing. He just sits like it's like, it's like, There's a lot of things he knows like he could, should do, but it's just too exhausted to start any of them. He just sits and stares into an empty hearth. Your bones must be so weary after such an extended fight.

Jack's pretty spent. He's a little lonely. And like he knows he should bring out the materials and summon Kieran back, and it would take an hour of concentrated effort and he'd have a friend full of unconditional love, but it's just like that, executive dysfunction of like, oh, I'd need to start and get all the stuff out, and I just need to sit here for a moment because I can't. Red is off in a side room, and you hear the prying

of boards of something. And as he comes back out and sits at the table, you see him, like, using some of the feathers and the pillows to fletch arrows, sort of just absent-mindedly carving long pieces of wood that's still hardy and strong. just sort of working with his hands. The moon rises, the party comes back together, and settles down to sleep. Doran stands up, remembering that he is a soldier. He stands and takes deep breath and straightens his back. And he looks at Red and he says,

I'm sorry for losing my temper on you, on all of you, really. Listen, I'll be the first to admit it. Yes, I was scared. I am scared. It scares me that we might all die, but it scares me more that we're not all on the same page. So if I may, I think we should get our heads together, get some rest, and communicate with one another

and make the best team that we possibly could. We all have our individual strengths, and we need to focus on those and support each other as we have been and not lose our way, because, as I've seen before, when you have a party like this and there's one weak link and suddenly it's all weak links.

So that's all I have to say and thank you for hearing me out. Doran sits down on his bed roll. Kralath is just staring ahead, spinning his ring on his finger, a look of consternation. And I think Red sees Krayloth doing that. eyes are fixed on Creoleath as they have been sort of since he fell and Red stands up. Yeah,

all right. I agree. I think one week link can break a chain. But what are we then? You said it, Doran. We need to reassess our goals, realign. But what are we? We're not soldiers. We're not adventurous, not anymore. What are we those who must be a part of the ordaining? I'm I suppose it's understood that our lives are forfeit in taking on this quest. I suppose that's just the way it goes. But none of us agreed to that. None of us signed up for that. So what are we then?

Are we the walking dead? Are we meant to just finish our task and stay alive as long as we can to have it done? Because I don't know if that's what I want or if that's what I agree. you to. Jack? Hmm? Do you... Yeah, no, I was listening, Red.

I think Jack drops it, just dead at your feet. We'll figure it out tomorrow. Well, I suppose there's your answer. You know, Red, you're right. You're not soldiers. I don't know why I continually, you know, I go there. I think that you guys are soldiers and you're not. Who am I kidding?

If nothing else, I think of you three as friends. So I'm going to go to sleep and maybe we'll all feel a little bit better in the morning. And Doran closes his eyes and pulls his hood over his eyes. No matter what we do on this path, it is certainly going to lead to death. We did see as much yesterday. Death is inevitable. But something that you said Red resonated with me. this idea of choosing you're right we never did choose this in fact come to think of it from what i've

been able to piece together about my memory my past there isn't much that i have even chosen in my entire life i think we're at a point where we get to choose the journey between now and our own death because it is going to happen on this path quite possibly sooner than if we were to focus on something else food for thought i suppose you slowly drop off to sleep the house creaks as it settles under its new occupants and red you have another dream a swift alpine stream hurries through a pristine winter valley, sunlight refracting on the surface of the snow and shattering into pieces in the water. The prow of a ship carves through dark blue waves, its barnacled hull trailing seagrass, creaking and groaning from this strain of lurching

from crest to crest, entropy dragging its claws through the timbers. And the shadow of a huge shark, silhouetted against the calm surface of light water from underneath like a rippling ceiling. The shark moves with deliberate grace, avoiding flat-bottomed barges and fairies, until effortless it shrinks, sprouts humanoid limbs mid-stroke, and catches hold of a ladder leading up to the dockside, climbing up out of the ceiling of Water and skewing an exhalation of air from a now bearded mouth, the man, clothes dripping wet, looks over his shoulder, and joins the jumble of sailors and laborers busy at dawn on the docks of yard.

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